Soccer and golf have already been eliminated by the Public Investment Fund; might the NFL follow?
The golfing spat between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf has received a lot of attention. LIV Golf, the PGA Tour, and the PGA European Tour announced a merger between the three that would combine their commercial rights into a for-profit enterprise sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund after over a year of off-course quarreling and indirect battling.
That was not the PIF’s first foray into disrupting the traditional sports leagues.
The firm acquired an 80% ownership in Premier League team Newcastle United in late 2021. High-profile players have been lured to the Saudi Pro League with unlimited sums of cash. N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo are just a few of the famous athletes that recently moved to Saudi Arabia.
With its toes firmly planted in golf and soccer, it seems just a matter of time before the sovereign wealth fund turns its attention to the big American sports leagues.
The nation is anticipated to “expand its sports interests” by establishing a different multibillion dollar investment business, according to the Financial Times. “Soccer, tennis, and other sports” will be targeted. According to the source, Newcastle and LIV Golf will not be a part of this new business and will instead be “focusing on new opportunities.”
This new investment firm would undoubtedly target the NFL if it wanted to get off to a fast start. With $18 billion in earnings last year, the NFL is the greatest cash cow among the top American sports leagues. And they have no intention of stopping anytime soon.
The question then becomes how Saudi Arabia would strategize their investment. Will they go after stakes in teams? Will they try to create their own league and sway players with much higher salaries?
The latter would be interesting for many reasons. The NFL doesn’t pay its non-quarterback players anywhere near as well as the Premier League, for instance. In fact, they don’t really get close to the NBA either. Particularly running backs and linebackers, whose values have steadily decreased over the past few years, could possibly be convinced to chase the money elsewhere.
